Statistical Parametric Mapping reveals sex-specific, phase-dependent differences in bilateral three-dimensional ground reaction force during Wushu Changbing PiJi in high-level athletes
- 1Sports Engineering Center, School of Physical Education and Sports Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
- 2School of Physical Education and Health, Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University, Guangzhou, China
Abstract
PiJi is a core attacking technique in Wushu Changbing competition, but continuous waveform evidence remains limited regarding the sex-specific phase characteristics of bilateral 3D ground reaction force (GRF) during PiJi performed with maximal voluntary effort (MVE). This study aimed to compare continuous changes in trailing-foot, lead-foot, and net bilateral GRF between high-level male and female athletes during PiJi performed with MVE. In this cross-sectional, laboratory-based observational study, 44 right-hand-dominant athletes, including 22 male athletes and 22 female athletes, performed PiJi with MVE, yielding 616 valid trials. Bilateral 3D GRF was recorded using two force plates. Each trial was time-normalized and linearly interpolated to 143 equally spaced nodes, and within-participant mean waveforms were calculated before between-group differences were analyzed using statistical parametric mapping. Primary analyses used random-field-theory inference, with sensitivity examined using 5,000 permutation tests. After Bonferroni correction, phase-specific sex differences were detected in trailing-foot, lead-foot, and net bilateral 3D GRF. Scalar localization showed that male athletes had higher trailing-foot Fy during the middle phase (33.98%–47.04%) and higher trailing-foot Fx (62.41%–71.99%) and net bilateral Fx (54.18%–70.41%) during the middle-to-late phase; female athletes showed only a brief period of higher trailing-foot vertical Fz during the middle phase (42.11%–44.61%). Although lead-foot 3D GRF differed overall, no confirmatory difference was localized to any single scalar component. These findings indicate that sex-related GRF differences in high-level PiJi were concentrated mainly in specific horizontal-plane phases of trailing-foot and net bilateral force, whereas the lead-foot difference was identified only at the overall 3D GRF level. These results provide kinetic evidence for phase-specific assessment of PiJi technique and suggest that training monitoring and mechanistic research should consider foot, direction, and movement phase rather than relying only on peak force or discrete variables. Future studies integrating multimodal measures and sport-specific performance may further clarify the functional significance of bilateral force-generation patterns.
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BibTeX
@article{feng2026statistical,
title = {{Statistical Parametric Mapping reveals sex-specific, phase-dependent differences in bilateral three-dimensional ground reaction force during Wushu Changbing PiJi in high-level athletes}},
author = {Jinyong Feng and Lianzhen Ma and Yupeng Shen and Shuxin Wang and Yiyi Qiu and Pengfei Zheng},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0359797},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0359797},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Statistical Parametric Mapping reveals sex-specific, phase-dependent differences in bilateral three-dimensional ground reaction force during Wushu Changbing PiJi in high-level athletes
AU - Jinyong Feng
AU - Lianzhen Ma
AU - Yupeng Shen
AU - Shuxin Wang
AU - Yiyi Qiu
AU - Pengfei Zheng
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/04
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0359797
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0359797
AB - PiJi is a core attacking technique in Wushu Changbing competition, but continuous waveform evidence remains limited regarding the sex-specific phase characteristics of bilateral 3D ground reaction force (GRF) during PiJi performed with maximal voluntary effort (MVE). This study aimed to compare continuous changes in trailing-foot, lead-foot, and net bilateral GRF between high-level male and female athletes during PiJi performed with MVE. In this cross-sectional, laboratory-based observational study, 44 right-hand-dominant athletes, including 22 male athletes and 22 female athletes, performed PiJi with MVE, yielding 616 valid trials. Bilateral 3D GRF was recorded using two force plates. Each trial was time-normalized and linearly interpolated to 143 equally spaced nodes, and within-participant mean waveforms were calculated before between-group differences were analyzed using statistical parametric mapping. Primary analyses used random-field-theory inference, with sensitivity examined using 5,000 permutation tests. After Bonferroni correction, phase-specific sex differences were detected in trailing-foot, lead-foot, and net bilateral 3D GRF. Scalar localization showed that male athletes had higher trailing-foot Fy during the middle phase (33.98%–47.04%) and higher trailing-foot Fx (62.41%–71.99%) and net bilateral Fx (54.18%–70.41%) during the middle-to-late phase; female athletes showed only a brief period of higher trailing-foot vertical Fz during the middle phase (42.11%–44.61%). Although lead-foot 3D GRF differed overall, no confirmatory difference was localized to any single scalar component. These findings indicate that sex-related GRF differences in high-level PiJi were concentrated mainly in specific horizontal-plane phases of trailing-foot and net bilateral force, whereas the lead-foot difference was identified only at the overall 3D GRF level. These results provide kinetic evidence for phase-specific assessment of PiJi technique and suggest that training monitoring and mechanistic research should consider foot, direction, and movement phase rather than relying only on peak force or discrete variables. Future studies integrating multimodal measures and sport-specific performance may further clarify the functional significance of bilateral force-generation patterns.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -